Perfection
by Analyn d'Ettore
Summary: After many unexpected delays, it is finally time. A companion story to The Games We Play. Believer Queen pairing.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Continuation of The Games We Play. Many of the reviewers wanted to see the wedding scene, so here it is.

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I straightened my tie for the tenth time today. I couldn't stop observing my reflection in the mirror. My hair was combed back, a change from the normal messy waves. I looked good, but I felt like sweat was pouring down my body despite the cool temperature inside of the apartment. Today was the day I'd been looking forward to for two and a half years now. Today I would be marrying the love of my life.

When I'd first proposed, I only envisioned a six month engagement at most. Life had a funny way of throwing multiple curveballs at me. Regina and I were forced to finally tell people of our relationship and our engagement. Ruby, surprisingly, already knew about us. It was a wolf thing, she explained. She smelled us on each other so frequently she knew of no other explanation. Grandma was also not that hard to convince. Snow, ever her bubbly self, was shocked at first but the elation of a wedding soon overcame any doubts she might have had. Most days, I felt she cared more about our wedding than us, though deep down I knew it wasn't true. Once Snow was happy, Gramps, by extension, was forced to accept us as well. Neal, young as he was, was confused, but once I explained how much Regina and I loved each other he was begging to be our ring bearer.

Ma was the last hold out. She refused to acknowledge our relationship at first, as if by denying its existence she could somehow pretend it did not exist. Once she finally did acknowledge our relationship, she was highly opposed. She fought us every step of the way. I asked Regina to elope with me and she agreed. I know the wedding is supposed to be more about the bride than the groom, but during the entire process I felt more involved with wedding plans than she ever was. Not once did I doubt her commitment towards me. With all our past failures at communication that led to heartbreak, she made an effort to be completely honest with me. I knew she wanted to get married, but planning was not her first priority. She just wanted it to happen and she did not care about the details.

Our flight was halfway to Vegas when I realized that I did not want to elope. As difficult as things were, I wanted to take Regina as my wife in front of all our friends and family. I wanted to proudly announce our commitment to one another to all the world and not elope like we were ashamed of ourselves. That was around the same time I realized that I also needed Ma's support before I could go through with the ceremony. I could not envision my wedding without her present. I wanted my mom to support me. So Regina and I decided to postpone the wedding until we managed to convince Ma to support us and then spent the weekend vacationing in Vegas.

Ma had, eventually, overcome her disgust at our relationship. She supported us, though she would probably never love the idea of us. Surprisingly, it was Regina and not me who finally helped Emma overcome her aversion.

I checked the clock. It was time. Two and a half years later, it was finally time.

As I stood at the alter waiting for my bride, I observed all the faces sitting before us. The wedding was held outside in the woods. Of all the wedding planning Regina had ignored, she wanted an outdoor summer wedding. I had no objections, and since it was the one thing she wanted for the wedding I happily agreed.

I missed her already. Regina. It had been less than twenty four full hours since I had last seen and talked to her, but the time apart seemed, to me, to be forever. I was used to constantly being near her, even if we were silent and going about our own activities, that made me feel the most relaxed.

My attention was fixated on the end of the aisle where my bride was going to appear. I saw movement behind the trees. It was a flash of white. It was her. I held my breath, only letting it out once I saw her waiting for me. Her dress was cream colored but I only looked at it briefly before my gaze was drawn to her face. Familiar. Comforting. She was biting her lip nervously. I felt slightly better. I was feeling wedding jitters as well. We exchanged a look, sharing our longing and anticipation at officially starting our life together. I was glad we waited for a traditional wedding.

My gaze was focused solely on her. She was breathtakingly beautiful and she made my heart beat wildly in my chest. My True Love. Soon to be my wife. Distantly, I saw everyone stand and turn to watch her walk slowly down the aisle. No one was watching me, but I understood. I could not take my eyes off of her either.

What seemed like an eternity later but was in reality less than a minute Emma was handing Regina off to me. One of the many hang ups regarding the wedding was Regina's unhappiness at not being given away by her father. Although she did not regret anything that she did, even killing him in order to cast the curse, there was still residual pain. She was touchy about the subject, refusing to walk down the aisle by herself but not feeling close enough to anyone to want them to give her away. Eventually, she ended up asking Emma. I was the reason they bonded in the first place.

And not for the reason everyone seems to think. Ironically, it was in ganging up on me that the two women finally resolved their issues. A year and a half after my proposal – during the summer – I saw Regina was visibly happier towards the end. Though she did not say anything, she missed me. Emma was really the only person in the family who was still opposed to our relationship, but the loneliness of not having anyone around most of the time was starting to wear on her.

I spent as much time with her as I could, but that time was limited to breaks from school. I was working myself extra hard, taking twenty credit hours a semester, so I could graduate early. That way, Regina would not have to spend as long by herself. During that summer, I came to an entirely different decision. Most people went to college so they could get a decent job, but I already knew I was coming straight back here to Storybrooke after graduation. In a town where being a hero was a legitimate job and I come from a line of heroes, there was never any question of me finding somewhere to work. I already had job guarantees for when I returned, and none of them were dependent upon a college diploma. While the people in Storybrooke had lived in the real world for quite some time, the culture here still resembled that of the Enchanted Forest. College was unknown there. None of my job offers were dependent upon a college degree. I did not actually need to finish.

With that pragmatic thought in mind and a deep-seated desire to both return home to be around Regina and to ensure she was not lonely, I announced my intention to drop out of college. Regina did not agree. She fought me vehemently. She insisted I finished. I assured her I already made up my mind. She needed me more and nothing was going to keep me away from her. Regina tried everything she could to persuade me to change my mind. In the end, she even threatened to postpone the wedding indefinitely and only resume plans after my graduation. Well-timed kisses and some sneaky post coital persuasion changed her mind.

However, still desperate to get me to finish, Regina formed an unlikely alliance with Ma. It was the first time they had collaborated on anything since their falling out a year and a half previously. It was Emma who finally argued until I capitulated. Since I'd been taking credit heavy semesters, I only needed two more semesters at twenty four credit hours each to graduate. The last year, school wise, was hell. I never had time to eat or sleep. I never had time to call Regina. I hated those two semesters. However, forcing me to finish college brought Emma and Regina close to the point where Emma gave her grudging acceptance of the marriage. The wedding was set for the summer after my graduation. Regina even asked Emma to walk her down the aisle.

It had been a little over three weeks since I graduated with a BA in English. I'd spent the majority of that time recovering from my two brutal semesters. I'd graduated college in three years, however, and I was back in Storybrooke for good. Luckily for Regina and I, Grandma was ever the party planner. In her excitement for the long anticipated wedding, she had taken over almost all of the details. Regina and I had only needed to pay for the final deposits. Grandma took care of the rest.

Now here we were. Emma placed Regina's hands in mine. Her fingers were frosty cold despite the warm summer air. I held them tightly between my hands and I felt them warm up during the course of the ceremony.

Regina and I opted to take the traditional wedding vows, though by mutual agreement neither of us wanted her to promise to obey me. I did not want an obedient wife. One of her qualities that drew me to her like a moth to flame was her sass. I would never want to change that about her. She was perfect for me just as she was.

I repeated the vows and I heard her do the same, but the entire time I spent marveling at the woman before me. We were finally getting married. I'd wanted this for so long and even as we stood there it still felt unreal.

As we exchanged rings, I smirked when I slid her ring onto her finger. As promised, as soon as she was released from the hospital I took her ring shopping. After going between eight different jewelry stores at least two times each, Regina finally settled on the ring she wanted. It was simple compared to her normal tastes. There was a large diamond in the center surrounded by smaller ones around the ends. The ring was white gold, and though simple and traditional it was elegant. It was not nearly as flashy as most of Regina's jewelry. However, it was the ring she wanted so that was the ring I was going to buy her.

Even though it was simple, the quality of the diamonds made it more expensive than some of the more ostentatious designs. I smiled as I remembered how, back then, Regina still tried to pay for everything including her own ring.

She seemed surprised at my insistence, and I was embarrassed as she boldly enquired how I was going to pay for it. I never had the time to get a job during high school. The school year was spent studying and the summers always ended up being spent playing the hero. Being a hero does not pay well, but I would have had it no other way.

With as many credit hours as I took in college, I did not have the time for a job then either. I had the occasional paid tutoring gig, but it was sporadic at best and resulted in a paltry sum. I sold my car and bought a much cheaper used one instead. The difference went to pay for the ring.

When Regina finally convinced me to tell her how I managed to afford the ring, she was upset to hear I sold my car. Its not like I was left without wheels. I just had used wheels instead. I did not mind if it meant I got to put a ring on her finger.

I already knew that Regina bought me a car as a wedding gift. I think she felt guilty that I sold my car to pay for her ring. However, some things I had to do for myself and I never once regretted it.

Vows complete, I was stunned that the woman in front of me, the woman I loved more than anything, was finally my wife. "My wife," I murmured quietly so only she could here before I kissed my new wife to the applause from the audience.

As she linked her arm in mine and we took our first steps as husband and wife, my heart was so happy it was going to burst. Everything was absolutely perfect.

I thought there was no way the day could get better. After the reception, Regina and I returned to her, now our, house for the night. We were leaving on our honeymoon the following day.

Regina bit her lip as I fumbled to unlock the front door. I turned towards her as the key slid into place. "Something wrong?" I asked. She only bit her lip when she was nervous. I used my thumb to pull her lower lip away from her teeth. It was more red than usual and I fought the urge to nip at it.

"I'm ready," Regina said simply.

Ready? Ready for what? I had no idea what she was talking about. Tonight? I should hope she was already ready for tonight.

Regina seemed to be positively glowing, though that might have been her white dress under the moonlight. Her nervousness all but disappeared. "I'm ready to try," she clarified.

I was confused but only for a moment. After we lost the baby, I confessed to Regina that I wanted children. Had the loss not been recent, she probably would have laughed. She then proceeded to tell me a story from my childhood. When I was five, I told her that girls were icky, except her of course. Regina told me that I would probably change my mind later. Little me declared that girls had cooties so I would never change my mind. She then told me that if I wanted a family someday I would have to get over my aversion. Little me responded by saying that if that was the case I never wanted children.

Nothing could be further from the truth anymore. I had not realized that I desperately wanted a child until the baby. However, Regina was too upset to want to try for another child. We both agreed that it was something we wanted in our future, but she was not ready to try again so soon. She never told me, but I think it was because she was afraid of loosing a second child.

I was content to wait, and since I was away at college most of the time, having a baby right away was not ideal. I wanted to be around for my child and not in another state most of the time. All things considered, it was best to wait.

"A baby?" I confirmed.

Regina nodded her head. "I stopped taking the pill last night." Although we used to rely on the contraceptive spell, the accidental pregnancy made Regina reconsider. Though the contraceptive spell was completely effective when used, that was dependent upon it being used. Regina, not ready to even consider having a baby right away, went on the pill as well. That way, she claimed, it was less likely she would forget one method or the other.

Her confirmation was all she needed. She was serious. We were going to have a baby. I swept her up in my arms despite her protests. I was rather fond of carrying her around bridal style. Each time I did she protested, though now it was more playful than it once was.

I intended a night of seduction. I walked straight past the living room with the chilled Champaign, one of the benefits of being twenty-one. With her admission, my heart was bursting with joy. She was now my wife and she was finally ready to have my child. I felt a burning in my chest. I needed her right away. No games and no hesitating. I did not want to draw anything out. I needed her.

I tossed her onto the bed none too lightly in my anticipation. "Henry," Regina scolded me. I stared into her dark brown eyes. They were smoldering. "You could have torn the dress."

"I don't care about the dress," I groaned. She was absolutely enticing in her wedding dress and I was already trying to figure out its complex laces so I could get her out of it.

Regina extracted herself from the bed. Her dress was slightly rumpled from my treatment, I noticed with satisfaction. "I need to get ready, dear. I'll try not to take to long."

I groaned as she sauntered over to the bathroom. I sat on the edge of the bed. I tried carefully not to chase after her. She would come back to me. She always did. Instead, I decided to settle for the next best thing, watching her.

"And no peaking," Regina added as she closed the bathroom door behind her. This time I groaned aloud. Damn the woman. I always watched her as she got ready. I loved the view. Something about it felt so intimate, like I was seeing the vulnerable side of her. She enjoyed my attention too. That's why she always made sure to leave the bathroom door open in invitation.

"Come on," I hollered at her through the closed door.

I heard her laughing. "It's our wedding night," was her only explanation. Infuriating woman. If I did not love her nearly as much, I would not be able to tolerate her cheeky presence. I wanted her.

While I was being forced to wait, I removed my shoes, jacket and tie. No need for me to be uncomfortable. Half an hour later she reemerged. She had managed to extract herself from the wedding dress, probably with the help of magic because though it looked stunning on her, it also looked like a monstrosity to take on and off.

She sauntered towards me. My eyes were drawn to the way her hips swayed in the lingerie she was wearing. I'd never seen it before, but the red lace made her skin absolutely glow. She possessed an etherial beauty.

Regina pushed my unresisting body down on the bed and straddled me. Her lips hovered just above mine. Her dark hair fell down over my face. Her hair was silky soft and smelled of vanilla coconut. I couldn't help but smile at the subtle joke. Then she was kissing me and all laughter turned serious. When Regina pulled away, I stared at her straight in the eyes. "I love you, Mrs. Mills."

"And I love you, Mr. Mills."

She wasn't perfect. We weren't perfect. We still had issues, but having this woman whom I loved staring down at me with love and lust in her gaze, I knew what it felt like to have found perfection.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** I can't believe it's been a year since I started The Games We Play. Wow. I was rereading the story and just thought I should answer some of your questions. What was in the box that Regina gave Henry for a graduation present? Whatever happened to Rachel? Well, this will answer your questions. I wrote it a long time ago but it never seemed right to post it, but I still thought you all would like to tie up a few loose ends, so here you go. And now I'm rambling so shutting up now. Enjoy.

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**Regina POV**

I frowned unhappily at Doctor Whale as he outlined what I would need to do for my recovery. He wanted to put me on bed rest for the next few days as my body regained strength and recovered. While on bed rest, I was only to be allowed some exercise, and only when supervised. Henry, not surprisingly, immediately volunteered to help. I was also unhappy about the list of foods I was restricted to. As Doctor Whale named more discouraged items, my brain was silently thinking how to convince Henry to smuggle me the "forbidden" foods. Apparently sausage and bacon were both on the no go list. Henry appeared to be taking notes of everything the doctor said, probably to remind me of later when I would inevitably ignore everything I was just told.

Once Doctor Whale left, Henry approached me and kissed me lightly on the lips. My heart rate monitor had recently been removed, a fact I was thankful for. "Mmmm," I smiled against his lips when Henry broke away from the gentle kiss. It was over almost as soon as it started.

"I brought you something," Henry said.

"Oh?" I cocked my eyebrow upwards. Henry had only been gone for ten minutes. What could he have possibly gotten me in that time?

Henry reached into his pocket as he said, "I was walking by the vending machine and I saw this. I thought it was...appropriate."

His voice was laced with seduction, though I could think of nothing sold in a vending machine that would bring forth his mysterious smirk. My question was soon answered.

I heard the crinkling of a wrapper being opened. Then Henry was sitting on my bedside holding out a pice of candy. A ring pop to be precise. Henry grabbed my left hand and studied it. He slid the ring pop onto my pinky finger, the only one small enough for the plastic ring.

"Absolutely not!" I exclaimed. If he thought he was going to get away with a ring pop from a vending machine in lieu of an actual engagement ring he was sorely mistaken.

Henry just laughed but it was short lived. He was soon serious again. Picking up my right hand, he held it tightly and said, "I know. I haven't had time to get an actual ring for you yet. But as soon as you're feeling up for it, I'll take you to go pick one out."

I could not stop my smile. He was simply... I did not have the words to describe how Henry made me feel, but it was undeniable that he made me feel very strongly. While the last few months had been marked by frequent crying, now, only an hour after his proposal, I could not stop smiling. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could make me unhappy.

"I'd like that," I agreed demurely. Then, more playfully, I yanked my right hand free from his grasp and removed the ring pop from my other. I threw it at his head. Henry failed to notice what I was doing in time to duck. The candy bounced off of his face.

I laughed at the comical and confused expression on his face. For a moment, Henry looked like he was going to retaliate. His lips were crashing down onto mine as his hands tangled in my hair and he tilted my head into place. I eagerly opened my mouth to his explorations. Henry took advantage of my offering. I was kissing my fiancee. Fiancee. Heat coiled in my belly as warmth spread throughout my entire body. This feeling of elation and happiness was never going to get old.

Panting, Henry pulled away. "Sorry," he gasped. I looked at him horrified. That was one of the best kisses we'd had and he was apologizing. "I know you're supposed to be taking it easy." Not even an hour after Doctor Whale's lecture and I was already ignoring his orders.

Henry abruptly decided to change the subject, "Now that you're awake and doing better, Ma's been wanting to speak to you about what happened. I have some things I need to go do as well. Is it okay if I send her in while I'm gone?"

"Sure." The prospect of having to talk to Emma put a damper on my mood. However, I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. After my kidnapping and subsequent ordeals, Emma, as the sheriff, was obligated to get my statement. "Send her in." If I was going to have to talk to her then I might as well get it over with.

Henry left with another brief kiss. I only had a minute to calm down my rapidly beating heart before Emma entered. I knew my face must have been flushed from Henry's recent kisses. If Emma noticed my unusual coloring, she must have attributed it to my general injuries and gave it no heed.

"You alright?" the blond woman asked. As she sat down next to me, I saw genuine sympathy shining in her expression. I did not want sympathy. I just wanted to be left alone.

Instead of admonishing her, I agreed as honestly as I could, "I'm going to be fine. Doctor Whale said I'm going to make a full recovery."

"I'm glad." Emma smiled at me. Deciding to forgo further small talk, Emma went straight to the point. "Now, Regina, I know these events must have been painful for you, but I need to hear what happened."

Emma switched on her voice recorder. I swallowed heavily and took a drink of water to prepare for the long story ahead. I started from the beginning. Well, the beginning when Rachel, then disguised as Emma, first came over to my house. I described the events of the kidnapping and everything I remembered. It was not much. As I told my story, I saw the pity in Emma's eyes. She occasionally stopped me to ask for clarifications. After I was done, she asked me a few more questions. Turning off the voice recorder, Emma then said, "Off the record, Regina, I can't even imagine how you're feeling right now."

"Does the whole town know about my pregnancy?" I already knew the answer was yes, but it made Emma self-conscious of her probing.

"I'm not sure if Neal knows yet," Emma said jokingly, "but more seriously, Regina, I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through. If you need to talk, I'll be here."

Her offer was meant kindly but I could not take her up on it. If I did, that would only lead to questions about the father and that was an issue I did not want to address without Henry present. In fact, the next time I saw Henry I needed to talk to him about how we were going to reveal our relationship. We could not keep it a secret for much longer.

"Emma," I said hesitantly. I had a burning question that I needed to ask but I was almost afraid of the answer, "back at the cottage, right as I was about to go unconscious, I heard a woman screaming. It sounded like someone was dying."

Emma nodded in understanding. "The girl, Henry says her name is Rachel, went ballistic as soon as we got there. She attacked Henry. David was able to stop her, but only barely. She's dead."

A part of me was relieved to know that she was dead. She could not hurt me or Henry anymore. Another part of me was disappointed that she had gotten off so easily. Had she lived, I would have sought revenge on her. She would have gratefully welcomed death by the time I was done with her.

I remembered something Henry had said earlier about asking Emma about Rachel's magic. My heart was thundering in my chest, though this time from anxiety. I needed closure to put this who thing behind me, however, so I forced myself to remain outwardly calm. "Henry said you figured out what spell she was trying to work."

Emma nodded minutely. "I got the gist of it." She pulled a piece of paper out of her jacket pocket and unfolded it. I grabbed the scrap of paper. The spell. It was written in symbols. It was obvious enough what the spell was for. I bit my lips harshly. Though seemingly simple, the spell was dark. The spell called for the death of an unborn child that was conceived of true love. I was grateful the crazy woman was unable to complete the spell. That would have made the loss of my baby even more unbearable.

I trembled slightly as I read through the spell on repeat, as if by reading it more than once the content would change into something less sinister. It never did.

"Do you know who she was?" I asked.

"We're not completely sure. She's not from here, but she's also not from the Enchanted Forest." That information was not the least bit helpful. There were multiple realms, and while I'd been to many of them, I'd only, in reality, been to a small fraction of them. She could have been from anywhere, though if she was not from here it explained how she knew about magic.

"Did Henry say anything about where he met her?" I had a morbid sense of curiosity about the subject.

Emma shrugged. "He didn't want to tell me. Said it wasn't important. That was before we knew if you were going to recover. He seemed so worried about you I didn't press him."

I had one more question I needed to ask. "How did you find me?"

Rachel had clearly gone to great pains to hide the cabin in the woods. I thought I knew every inch of forest in Storybrooke, so she must have gone to enormous effort to keep me from discovering the place. If I did not know where we were then how were they able to find me?

"You'll have to ask Henry that. I'm not quite sure how he knew either."

Emma left soon after. However, I was not meant to be left alone. Next came Snow, David and Neal. Snow and David tried to distract me, though I felt both of their pitying glances. I wanted them to leave, but I was happy to have Neal. He climbed onto my lap, and though his weight was heavy enough to hurt in my weakened state, I only hugged him closer to me as I basked in the temporary warmth only a child could bestow. I felt content laying there as Neal snuggled into my side and made me promise not to leave again. And then I wondered if the child I lost would have been a boy or a girl.

He did not say it but his persistent questions about my well-being let me know he had been worried. For such a small child, I was not surprised. He would have perceived how stressed everyone else was and the uncertainty, more than anything else, would have made him panic.

As I held Neal, I realized that I wanted another child. I needed another child. Even though I had not known my baby, not even know it existed until it was already gone, I still felt the pain of its loss. I wanted another but I wasn't yet prepared to take the risk again. I added yet another topic to my long and growing list about things I needed to discuss with Henry.

After the Charmings left it was, surprisingly, Ruby who replaced them. She did not stay for long. She only offered her condolences and wished me a speedy recovery before leaving again. I thought her visit was rather strange.

After Ruby departed, I was finally left alone to rest. I had one of the nurses bring me a meal. After I ate, I felt exhaustion creeping through my body yet again and, since I was alone, I gave in and fell asleep again.

That evening, I woke up to find Henry had returned. He was quietly reading off to the side. Once he noticed I was awake, he set his book aside. "When did you get here?" I asked, wondering how long he'd been waiting while I was asleep.

"A few minutes ago," he responded nonchalantly. I glanced towards the clock. He must have been gone for at least ten hours then. Good, I thought, it wasn't good for him to be spending all his time at the hospital with me. Selfishly, I was glad he had decided to return for the night. He could just as easily stayed at home and slept on an actual bed. I knew the chairs at the hospital had to be incredibly uncomfortable to sleep in.

"You should have stayed at home to rest," I scolded him.

"I was tempted to, but the thought of being all alone in that house was unappealing." I nodded in understanding. I knew what he meant. I, too, did not want to spend the night alone. Not after my ordeal.

"How did you find me?" I asked abruptly.

Henry appeared taken aback. He moved his chair closer to me and I propped my body up so my face was level with his.

"It's all thanks to you," he said. I was very confused. All thanks to me? How was that possible?

"Remember the present you got me for graduation?"

I did remember it. Well, there were multiple presents, but I knew the one Henry was referring to. The one that came in the small black box. Inside the box was a golden key.

"I had no idea what it was when you first gave it to me. I tried matching it to locks, but when nothing seemed to work I just shoved it to the back of my dresser and forgot about it."

How thoughtful of him. He simply forgot about my present because he couldn't figure out what it was. I frowned.

Seeing my frown, Henry argued, "What was I supposed to do? I had no idea what it was for." Instead of scolding him further, I encouraged him to continue his explanation. "We were searching desperately for a way to find you. There were no noticeable trails and the house was ransacked. We couldn't find anything meaningful of your to track you by. While we were searching I ran across the key and I just knew."

My heart was fluttering eagerly. If Henry had used the key to find me, then he must have realized what it was. "You used it to find me." Henry nodded in agreement.

There was one mystery solved. At Henry's confirmation, I felt butterflies squirming in my stomach. There had been so many clues I should have realized everything sooner. From how much I loved Henry, and how much he loved me despite everything that had passed between us. Then, after seeing myself looking so radiant in the Storybook, the drawing that confirmed I was finally going to have a happy ending, I should have known that the man disguised in the shadows that was making me so happy was Henry. True Love. I'd thought it before, but now I knew for sure. Henry was my True Love and I was his. I'd known I was capable of True Love ever since my kiss had broken the curse on him years ago, but Henry could only have used the key if it was romantic True Love. The key was the key to my heart. Not literally. The key was not an object made to be useful. The key did not open an actual lock. Instead, it was symbolic. Symbolic of my heart.

I'd worked hard placing spells on the object. I could have chosen any object. I don't know why I choose the key, but it just seemed fitting.

"The key can work both ways. It allows us to find each other." Henry voiced his agreement. "But it does a lot more than that," I added.

"Like what?" Henry seemed curious. I wanted to tell him about my newfound discovery of our True Love, but this was not the time. There would be time later when we were not so on edge and stressed.

"I don't actually know," I admitted. I'd placed enough spells on the key that it's true power would be unpredictable. "But it is powerful."

Henry smiled at me and kissed me gently. I craved more, but Henry was intent on forcing me into the slow and painful recovery Doctor Whale recommended. "So in the end, you gave me the means to save you."

"Hmmm," I hummed in agreement. I was already tiring. The day had been long and rough. Despite only recently awaking from my nap I wanted to sleep again.

"I love you," Henry said as he kissed me again.

I was wide awake once more. He loved me! I knew that had to be true. He would not have proposed otherwise. He would not have been so upset with me otherwise. It was one thing knowing he must still love me and another hearing him say it. I cracked a smile from the pure bliss I was feeling.

"I love you too."

Henry kissed my forehead. I tried to tilt my head upwards to capture his lips with mine but Henry evaded my movements. "Goodnight," was all he said as he held my hand loosely while I fell asleep yet again.

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**AN2:** If anyone else has unanswered questions or scenes they'd like to see from The Games We Play, just let me know. I have a lot more written and I'll try to post the parts people are interested in.


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